Successful treatment of many diseases that have caused significant worldwide public health problems have been limited in part by the toxicity and lack of specificity of systemic treatments (e.g., cancer, microbial infections, traumatic brain injury, etc.). Thus, research in targeted drug delivery strives for a significant in vivo increase in the therapeutic index of various treatments (i.e., specific toxicity of a drug at a desired site without significant effects, on other sites in the body).
With respect to cancer treatment, one method is to transport the drug with a monoclonal antibody that binds to .a receptor that is over-expressed on tumor cells. Such methods directly attach the drug to the antibody. Such methods also attach both the drug and antibody to a platform. However, a major hurdle with such targeted drug delivery methods is the long synthetic route to, make these complex compounds. Furthermore, the efficacy of such methods usually requires. improvement. Therefore, more efficient and effective approaches to targeted drug delivery are desired for treating various diseases and conditions (including cancer).